Boston Common Asset Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Boston Common Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 84,354 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 8,444 shares during the period. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $23,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $910,220,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $874,748,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in Salesforce by 110.3% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,394,912 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $893,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780,421 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush upped their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $325.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total transaction of $2,533,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,624.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Salesforce news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total value of $2,533,854.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,624.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.42, for a total transaction of $1,211,364.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at $34,181,807.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 80,612 shares of company stock valued at $21,283,087. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $290.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $277.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $260.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.